091023 Witn Silent Calls
Content
BBC Learning English
Words in the News
23rd October 2009
Silent phone calls
When you pick up a ringing phone and hear silence at the other end, it can be frightening.
However, most of these calls are made not by villains but by computers at call centres. Now
in the UK such centres could be fined up to £2m for causing distress. Gavin Ramjaun reports:
It's an annoying thing many households have to put up with - answering the phone to find
nobody on the other end of the line. They are often from a company's call centre which uses
automatic dialling in the hope of selling you something. But if there aren't enough staff on
hand to speak, the call into your home stays silent. Industry regulator, Ofcom, says it's a
breach of their guidelines for businesses who make persistent unwanted phone calls. And
now those caught breaking the law could face fines of £2m.
Kevin Brennan, Consumer Affairs Minister: 'It is still a real problem, despite the raising of
fines that have gone on in the past. Last year, Ofcom did a survey and found that half of
people that they surveyed said that it was a real nuisance to them.'
David Hickson, campaigner: 'We don't know how much of a deterrent it will be. The point
is that the action point of Ofcom should be to stop people from making silent calls, not just to
penalise them.'
Despite previous attempts to tackle this, almost half of the UK still receives silent phone calls.
So officials will hope the threat of a bigger fine can help stamp it out.
Gavin Ramjaun, BBC News
Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
to accept something even though you are not happy about
to put up with
it, to be forced to tolerate
when a computerised device, called a predictive dialler, is
automatic dialling
used by call centres to phone a lot of people in one go
staff on hand
company employees available
a breach of their guidelines
when their official recommendations are broken
caught
here, noticed or reported
a real nuisance
annoying and/or irritating them a great deal
how much of a deterrent
how effective in preventing silent calls
to penalise
to punish for breaking a law
to tackle
to deal with/resolve
stamp it out
if you stamp something out, you put an end to it/eradicate
it
More on this story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8321718.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7596923.stm
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2009/10/091023_witn_silent_calls.shtml
Words in the news
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Words in the News
23rd October 2009
Silent phone calls
When you pick up a ringing phone and hear silence at the other end, it can be frightening.
However, most of these calls are made not by villains but by computers at call centres. Now
in the UK such centres could be fined up to £2m for causing distress. Gavin Ramjaun reports:
It's an annoying thing many households have to put up with - answering the phone to find
nobody on the other end of the line. They are often from a company's call centre which uses
automatic dialling in the hope of selling you something. But if there aren't enough staff on
hand to speak, the call into your home stays silent. Industry regulator, Ofcom, says it's a
breach of their guidelines for businesses who make persistent unwanted phone calls. And
now those caught breaking the law could face fines of £2m.
Kevin Brennan, Consumer Affairs Minister: 'It is still a real problem, despite the raising of
fines that have gone on in the past. Last year, Ofcom did a survey and found that half of
people that they surveyed said that it was a real nuisance to them.'
David Hickson, campaigner: 'We don't know how much of a deterrent it will be. The point
is that the action point of Ofcom should be to stop people from making silent calls, not just to
penalise them.'
Despite previous attempts to tackle this, almost half of the UK still receives silent phone calls.
So officials will hope the threat of a bigger fine can help stamp it out.
Gavin Ramjaun, BBC News
Words in the News
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 1 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
to accept something even though you are not happy about
to put up with
it, to be forced to tolerate
when a computerised device, called a predictive dialler, is
automatic dialling
used by call centres to phone a lot of people in one go
staff on hand
company employees available
a breach of their guidelines
when their official recommendations are broken
caught
here, noticed or reported
a real nuisance
annoying and/or irritating them a great deal
how much of a deterrent
how effective in preventing silent calls
to penalise
to punish for breaking a law
to tackle
to deal with/resolve
stamp it out
if you stamp something out, you put an end to it/eradicate
it
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8321718.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7596923.stm
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2009/10/091023_witn_silent_calls.shtml
Words in the news
© British Broadcasting Corporation 2009
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com
